Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Silvan
Shalom visited Toronto, New York and Washington this past week. While
in Toronto, Shalom participated in an event at the local Chabad
Israeli Community Center which held a fundraiser to complete
construction of its new building north of the city.

In an interview with a Toronto-based Jewish website on Friday, Shalom
criticized Defense Minister Ehud Barak who recently suggested that
Israel consider a unilateral disengagement from Judea and Samaria
(Yehuda and Shomron), similar to that carried out by the Israeli
government in the Gush Katif region of Gaza in August of 2005.

Minister Shalom expressed his unequivocal support for further
construction in Judea and Samaria, and rejected the idea of a ​​
disengagement, saying, “I think it would be a catastrophe. The
disengagement from Gaza failed and its results are very bad. It
brought missiles on Israeli cities: Be´er Sheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon and
maybe even Tel Aviv. I think it would be a foolish move to do
something similar in Judea and Samaria.”

He also placed the responsibility for the stalemate in the peace
process on the Palestinian Authority, whose chairman Mahmoud Abbas
has continued to insist on pre-conditions for negotiations. Shalom
rejected Abbas’ demands that Israel accept the indefensible pre-1967
borders as a precondition for negotiations, and claimed that Abbas
did not want to start negotiations all along, in the hope he would be
able to achieve recognition for “Palestine” within the United Nations.

Abbas warned on Friday that he may seek non-member status for a
Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly, if peace
talks with Israel do not resume.

The UN Security Council blocked Abbas’ bid to become a full member
last September, after he failed to get the required support of nine
of the Security Council’s 15 members.

In the interview, Shalom also addressed the Arab Spring, saying it
created an anti-Israeli situation in the Middle East, but expressing
hope that the public in these countries will recognize its mistake
and try to turn back the clock.